Blair- John Carpenter's The Thing
by austinlu
Summary: *Warning- Story and Summary Contain Spoilers This is a fan fiction about Blair and his hunt for the Thing before and after he is assimilated. It follows nicely within John Carpenters "The Thing", and is a companion piece to the movie. Specifically written to flesh out the movie and character Blair.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The Artic winds blew dispassionately across the frozen wasteland. The night would not end for a few days as the first storm of the season was coming. An aged wooden sign creaked as the violent gale continued. It read in faded black letters:

"United States National Science Institute Station 4"

The base was isolated from the rest of the world. Even though lights could be seen coming from inside the base, it felt abandoned by humanity, a forsaken compound left to waste away in the Artic. The weather towers and Airfield Tower looked like skeletons in the night.

Inside the compounds laboratory, a pudgy gentleman in a yellow button up and pea green suspenders sat at a computer. Blair opened the desk drawer in his office and pulled out a bottle of Smirnoff Vodka. He took a drink, set the bottle on his desk, and then wiped his glasses on his shirt. They fogged from sweat and fear.

The computer beeped and whirred to life as its starting processors warmed up. Blair stood up and walked over to the door of the laboratory. He closed it slowly, the lock clicking louder than he wanted as the dead bolt clicked into place.

It was time. Blair needed privacy.

The computer start up complete, Blair returned to his seat and took another shot from the vodka bottle. It was half empty now. Not enough to last the winter.

The laboratory was large but comfortable, out of the way and private, with a computer to suit Blair's needs. The microscope to his left contained a sample of the dog's DNA, which Blair had thoroughly analyzed. Now was the time to collect data to see how bad the situation was.

He began to type feverously into the computer, only stopping to take a swig from the vodka or wipe the sweat from his brow. When the preliminary variables had finally been typed into the computer, Blair leaned back in his chair to rest for a moment.

"Damn it, it can't be Clark," he thought to himself. Clark had spent most of his time with the husky, but had alerted the rest of the men when the… whatever it was… had begun to assimilate the other dogs in the kennel. That would accomplish nothing, except to make the alien presences know to the rest of the men. And no one watched the dog… it… as it had wandered freely about the cabin. Any one of the elven man crew here could already be…

With any luck at all, Blair would be wrong and wake up from this nightmare. He reached over the desk and picked up his green pencil. Blair then reached into his right breast pocket and produced his father's golden pocket watch. It was his favorite memento. Blair always kept it wound tight and precise, often using it to time experiments. The watch would work nicely to time the computer simulation for Blair today.

Blair typed a few keys on the keyboard, and the computer program started. The screen illuminated to show two blue cells of the normal dogs DNA, and one red cell to denote the alien virus. A timer in the left hand corner of the screen counted up from 17:36:00 the computer program labeled the red cell "Cell, Intruder".

The pocket watch started, and Blair began to write furiously down on a note pad of graph paper on his desk.

Both the timer and label for the virus disappeared, and was replaced as a blue cell at the top of the screen was labeled "Cell, Dog" The label disappeared on the monitor and the cells began to drift. The red cell drifted slowly toward one of the blue cells at the top of the screen. As soon as it made contact, the blue and red cell drifted into each other. The cell became completely red. The program labeled this process "Assimilation". Once complete, the two cells combining to make one larger blue cell. The program whirred as it explained to Blair what he already knew. "Assimilation Complete, Cell, Dog, Imitation".

Blair looked down at his pocket watch and back up to the screen. Even with the slower simulation, the virus had only taken thirty seconds to eat and become one of the dog's cells. Blair didn't want to imagine how quick the virus spread in real time. Blair began to write slower on the pad.

The monitor continued as the imitation cell drifted toward another normal cell, unaware of the imposter. Once it was close enough, the imposter struck out a thin red tentacle into the core of the normal cell. The normal cell was then consumed by the imposter, who then floated as if nothing had happened.

Blair stopped writing on the graph paper with the pocket watch still open in his left hand. The monitor faded to black for a moment. He tapped his pencil eraser on the desk in nervous anticipation.

It came back to life as it outlined a blue box on the screen. Blue letters typed themselves out inside the box. They said:

"Probability that one or more team members may be infected by intruder organism: 75%"

Blair's worst fears had been realized statistically. Even science had forsaken him. The florescent lights of the lab grew in intensity, and the glare off the steel instruments and tile floor began to give Blair a headache. To make matter worse he was out of Vodka.

Blair set his pocket watch down absentmindedly and stared at the screen for a couple of seconds. His mind couldn't… no wouldn't process. A thought more terrible than this news crossed his mind. The concept was staggering.

He typed on the keyboard with the green pencil still in-between the thumb and fingers of his right hand. The monitor went black, then re-animated with new text. Each word sank heavier and heavier in Blair's chest as he read them. The new message on the monitor said:

"Projection:

If intruder organism reaches civilized areas…

Entire world population infected 27,000 hours from first contact."

Blair shook his head in denial. How could the Norwegian Artic team unleash such a monster upon the human race? No. Now was not the time to ponder human ignorance.

Blair opened the drawer of the desk again. Amongst the white out, erasers, rubber bands, and Q-tips lay a Smith & Wesson snub nose .38 special on top of some scratch paper. He pulled it out and shut the drawer.

Blair closed his father's watch and returned it to his breast pocket. He picked up his pencil and continued to write his notes, only this time they were more qualitative.

"_It could have imitated a million life forms on a million planets. Could change into anyone of them at any time. Now it wants life forms on Earth. It needs to be alone and in close proximity with the life form to be absorbed. The Chameleon strikes in the dark while no one watches. It is virtually indestructible. The twelve gauge shotgun rounds barely wounded it, and the fire did only a little better. There is still cellular activity in these burned remains."_

Blair finished writing, putting the pencil down to pick up the Snub nose. He unloaded the .38 special and checked each cartridge carfully. He would only have one shot at this.

"_No one wants to believe me. Fine. No one wants to find the truth. Fine. But I won't let it escape. I can't let it escape._" Each thought was punctuated by the sound of each .38 hollow point being reloaded into the six cylinder revolver. The cylinder clacked shut violently and Blair had made up his mind.

The trap was set.

It was now time to hunt the Thing.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

"Mac, were moving those uh… things outta the lab into the store room. Can you come get your stuff?" Dr. Copper asked through the intercom. He and Blair waited patiently for MacReady's reply next to the laboratory speaker.

"Be there in a minute Doc," spoke the fuzzy box. Dr. Copper turned towards Blair who wasn't paying attention. He was staring at the bodies on the dissection table.

"So you're all done with the autopsy, I take it?" asked the Doctor. He wore a red button up T-shirt over his grey long-sleeved undershirt, and a gold bracelet on each arm. He preferred gold because it wouldn't rust from blood and was easy to clean off after operations.

"Yes, I'm done," replied Blair solemnly. He avoided looking into the Doctor's eyes, instead focusing on the mutilated corpses. The twisted bodies stared back.

Windows and Bennings entered the laboratory. Windows wore his shades, even though he was inside. He would have looked like a FBI agent or spy if it wasn't for his curly hazel hair and rough beard. Bennings looked no better. He was in his bright orange winter vest to match his orange hair. Well, what little he had left on his balding head.

"You called us Doctor?" asked Bennings as he limped into the room. The gunshot wound in his leg ached with every step.

"Yes, I need you and Bennings to take these uh… animals to the storage room. Blair has finished with his autopsy." Dr. Copper replied. He glanced over to Blair, who shuffled slowly toward the door. "Where are you going Blair?"

Blair turned and looked at the three men. "I'm tired. I'm going to my room to sleep. Please don't disturb me." With that, Blair exited the room into the hallway. He heard the Doctor say one last thing before the door closed behind him.

"We sure don't see him much anymore. I hope he's okay."

He was not okay. Blair felt pangs of regret as he shuffled down the hallway. He didn't want to use Bennings and Windows as bait. They had always done right by him. But for all Blair knew, Bennings and Windows were already assimilated.

Bennings was the perfect bait, because he couldn't run from his wound. However, Bennings could just be faking it, and was actually one of the Things. In that case, he and Windows alone in the storage room would be perfect. What monster would pass up the opportunity to assimilate Windows? Either way, Blair had betrayed one of them in order to flush out the Thing.

He passed Fuchs in the hallway while deep in thought. Fuchs gave Blair a greeting to no avail. Blair opened the door to his room; roughly shut it, locking the door in response.

"_The best case scenario, neither man is a Thing,"_ Blair thought as he walked to his bed. His room was small, and could only contain a bed, a nightstand with a lamp on it, and a closet adjacent to the two pieces of furniture.

Blair continued to scheme. _"In which case, I can just bide my time. The two of them will leave after they bring down the corpses. Eventually, someone or something will come to investigate them. If I know the corpses are still alive, then it's not a stretch to think one of their friends does as well."_

This was where his brilliant plan ran into a little hitch; once Blair knew who the Thing was, what next? Fire was the best option, but the flamethrower was locked up with Childs in his room. Blair reached into his suspender pockets. The .38 felt cold in his hand. What would this do? If shotguns barley wounded it, what good is a snub nose? The alcohol was finally wearing off, like Blair's false bravado.

The lamp shone too brightly for Blair's comfort. He couldn't concentrate with this extreme migraine. The pocket watch ticked like a hammer on a metal pan.

"_If I want to catch it, I need to leave now,"_ Blair decided. He stood up from the bed and walked back to the door. By now, Fuchs had to have left and the hallway would be deserted. The wind howled outside the base, a wild animal howling in the desolate arctic.

…

Fuchs and Macready walked down the hallway away from the storage room, and Blair watched them go. He was hiding in a utility closet just down the hallway from the storage room. Bennings and Windows were still inside the room.

For as much as Blair loved the boy, Fuchs was beginning to get in his way. He had to jump into the cramped closet because Fuchs had unexpectedly come down the hallway to find MacReady. The room warmed intensely from Blair's body heat, and his glasses began to fog. A broom handle stabbed his armpit. The pocket watch ticked on.

Blair shifted his position in the closet so he could see in between the crack in the door jam. Windows exited the storage room, whistling to himself. Blair exhaled with relief and opened the closet door as soon as Windows had turned the corner. Cold air hit his sweaty body, and Blair crept stealthily toward the storage room door.

"What are you doing Blair?"

Blair jumped in terror. He whipped around, pulling the .38 from his pocket. Norris yelped in surprise, throwing his hands in the air.

"Jesus, Blair! It's only me! Where the hell did you get the gun?" Norris was a short, weird little man with curly hair. A wall flower, Norris was the kind of guy no one ever paid attention to but was always in the room.

"Good God, Norris. Don't sneak up on a man like that," Blair sighed with relief.

"You still haven't told me what the hell you are doing with that gun." Norris crossed his arms, staring Blair down intently. Blair lowered the .38 pistol and began to reply. "Well, I was… I was…"

Blair lost his train of thought from a thud heard coming from within the storage room. He turned around.

"What is it, Blair? Is something wrong?"

"Shut up Norris. I thought I heard something just now," Blair whispered. He began to walk toward the storage room again, the .38 outstretched. Norris followed behind him.

"Blair, Palmer and I need your help with something in the basement. We think some of the pipes have frozen." Norris reached out and put his hand on Blair's shoulder.

"Not now Norris! Can't you see I am busy with something here?" Blair reached the door of the storage room. He could hear wet, slippery sounds emanating from inside the room. "Wait, do you hear that?"

"I don't hear anything Blair. Are you going to come with me or not?"

Blair entered the room slowly. He saw blood and ripped clothes on the table to his left. It had splattered all over the camping gear and boxes on the table. The red blood contrasted the white tile floor. The color drained from his face. Bennings was in the corner, with bloody tentacles wrapped around his body.

Norris covered Blair's mouth with his hand as he tried to scream for help. His fingers grew into fowl smelling tentacles that wrapped around his entire head. Blair tried to pull his .38 around, but Norris subdued Blair's arm with his other hand now also tentacles. Terror filled within Blair's chest as his eyes grew in size. He wiggled and fought against the Thing to try to free himself. But the Thing dragged Blair down the hallway back towards the closet. Blair's shoes screeched off the tile floor as he kicked futilely.

The Thing hissed as one of its tentacles began to slither down Blair's throat. Blair choked in agony as tears welled in his eyes. They had both finally entered the closet now. The door slammed shut in front of them. There were a few more thuds and crashes before the entire closet fell dead silent. It was dead silent except for the soft ticking of Blair's pocket watch, barely audible over the howling wind outside.

Outside in the hallway, Windows turned the corner returning to the storage room.


End file.
